We all have been told that we should always love our customers when providing customer service. Our goal is to make our customers happy. We are all here to serve, to solve problems and to care. All that is certainly true in order to have a successful business. It should be fun for all of us to help others with the service and products we provide.
However, let’s be honest. Sometimes providing customer service is not pleasant or fun to do. Mostly because sometimes our customers are not pleasant. Because of this, we need to stay positive and focused and not get dragged down by the frustrated customer.
When I was managing hotels and resort properties and came across an angry and unpleasant customer, I tried to make a game of it. My goal was always to disarm them, to rid of their anger and to make them become an ambassador. This is definitely possible. In fact, it’s not even that complicated. All you have to do is make them feel heard because that is what they want most.
One way customers want to be heard is through email. Here is my theory of email complaints. Yes sometimes the customer can be brutally angry. The reason is that they don’t think you or anyone in your business are going to respond. They just don’t expect a response at all. That’s why, when ever you receive an angry email, it is important to drop what ever you are doing and respond right away to catch them off guard. Customers don’t expect you to respond and they certainly don’t expect you to respond quickly. So do it!
When responding back to them here are a few tips:
- Always acknowledge what they said.
- In a non-defensive way, explain your point of view. Never say they were wrong, just explain the decision that was made.
Example: “Thank you for your feedback. We work very hard to provide the best product or service for our customers and we take our cues from the feedback given to us by our customers. We do our best to give our customers what they want in our product or service. Some people like what we provide and I am sorry that you didn’t. I can appreciate you sharing your experience with me and your feedback.”
Usually, I would get a response a few hours later where the angry customer would write back. “Thank you for your reply. I didn’t expect one.” Then reiterate their point of view and at the end of the email they would write. “Thanks for listening.”
The goal is to disarm the angry customer. But more important, it is a valuable exercise to see how you can come together simply by listening. We all live in a world of loud, angry and upset customers. No business is perfect. However, you will never win by adding another loud and angry voice response to the situation. But when you hear people out and respond quickly that’s when change really happens. Try it next time. Now that is Magical!